List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players
The following is a list of international ice hockey competitions where National Hockey League players have been able to participate. Most of these competitions were arranged by the NHL or NHLPA. Summit Series The Summit Series was an eight game challenge series between the Soviet National Team and a Canadian team made up of NHL hockey players. No World Hockey Association players were included in the event. Two years later, the World Hockey Association competed in the 1974 Summit Series and were defeated by the Soviets, but with no NHLers. There were however, some former NHLers playing for the WHA in the series. Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented the Soviet Union. Soviet teams won 14 series, NHL teams won 2 series, and 2 series were tied. In the following summary the winner of a series is in bold. Canada Cup Canada Cups were the major international competition for NHL players before the advent of the World Cup. Challenge Cup 1979 Rendez Vous 1987 In 1987, two matches were held between the USSR and NHL All Stars in Quebec City, Canada in place of the annual NHL All Star Game. The series finished tied with each team winning once. World Cup In 1996, the World Cup of Hockey replaced the Canada Cup. Olympics In 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 the NHL has had a break in the season to allow its players to participate in the Olympics. IIHF World Championships Since 1976, there has been no limit to how many NHL players countries can send to the IIHF World Championships, but the tournament is usually played during the NHL playoffs. Because of the NHL lockout in 2004, all NHL players were available to participate in the 2005 Championship. Many players did, however, not participate because they had not played for a full season, and were therefore not in "game shape." NHL Challenge Between 2000 and 2003, a select few NHL teams traveled to Europe to play exhibition games against top division teams in the Swedish and Finnish leagues. Victoria Cup The Victoria Cup is a new ice hockey tournament organized by the IIHF and intended for teams of the Champions Hockey League and the NHL. The inaugural Cup was a single game playoff between the 2008 IIHF European Champions Cup winners Metallurg Magnitogorsk and New York Rangers of the NHL. It was held in Bern, Switzerland on 1 October 2008. The 2009 edition of the tournament featured ZSC Lions, the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League winners, and Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. The ZSC Lions defeated The Blackhawks 2-1 in the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland. KHL vs NHL games Teams of the former Soviet league have not played against NHL teams after the Super Series ended until 2008, when the 2008 Victoria Cup took place in Bern. In 2010 the NHL teams will play their first games on Russian and Latvian soil since 1990. See also * International Ice Hockey Federation * National Hockey League * Ice Hockey World Championships External links * Hockey Hall of Fame's Summary of Super Series * Top Level Hockey World Rankings * Canada Versus the Soviet Union The heyday of the battle for world hockey supremacy (1972-1987) Category:Ice hockey tournaments Category:National Hockey League lists